The Sacred Canopy, Peter L. Berger
The Sacred Canopy, Peter L. Berger
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The Sacred Canopy
Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion

Author: Peter L. Berger

Narrator: Rick Adamson

Unabridged: 8 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/31/2023

Synopsis

"The most important contribution to the sociology of religion since Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (Commonweal).

Acclaimed scholar and sociologist Peter L. Berger carefully lays out an understanding of religion as a historical, societal mechanism in this classic work of social theory. Berger examines the roots of religious belief and its gradual dissolution in modern times, applying a general theoretical perspective to specific examples from religions throughout the ages. Building upon the author's previous work, The Social Construction of Reality, with Thomas Luckmann, this book makes Berger's case that human societies build a "sacred canopy" to protect, stabilize, and give meaning to their worldview.

About Peter L. Berger

Peter L. Berger (1929-2017) was University Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, at Boston University and the founder and Senior Research Fellow of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. His many books include In Praise of Doubt (with Anton Zijderveld); Religious America, Secular Europe? (with Grace Davie and Effie Fokas); Questions of Faith; Many Globalizations (edited with Samuel Huntington); and Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience. Professor Berger was the recipient of honorary degrees from Loyola University, University of Notre Dame, University of Geneva, University of Munich, Sofia University, and Renmin University of China.

Reviews

Goodreads review by John on February 16, 2012

This book is an extension of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s earlier book, “The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge” written in 1966, in which the authors begin with basic sociological assumptions about mental representations and how human beings come to know......more

Goodreads review by "Nico" on June 29, 2022

Berger may be a shit dialectician, but he's a capable sociologist of religion. He deserves criticism for a vulgar turn of phrase in the appendices, but this really is a thoughtful synthesis of a number of philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists of religion with a lot to say. Great introduction......more

Goodreads review by Levi on September 19, 2023

3.5* A precondition for being an academic or "theorist" is harbouring an exceptionalist view of oneself that is typically characterized by a fear of being misunderstood. Consequently, you end up with all these puffed up books full of imprecise language about what exactly? Second half is better than t......more

Goodreads review by Kris on November 08, 2023

Some fascinating ideas. But the language is unnecessarily difficult, academic, wordy. Much of it went over my head. I wish he would rewrite this for laymen. While reading I also had the nagging sense that his arguments tried to do too much--like Poetic Diction: A Study in Meaning, the ideas stretch......more

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